Petrina vs Petronella
American parents have registered 2,107 Petrinas since 1880, against 335 Petronellas. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Petrina Petronella
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 102 years in which either name was published, Petrina for 86 years and Petronella for 16 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.
- 1884–1893 Petronella ahead
- 1900 Petrina ahead
- 1903 Petronella ahead
- 1904 Petrina ahead
- 1906–1913 Petronella ahead
- 1914 Petrina ahead
- 1915–1919 Petronella ahead
- 1920–1937 Petrina ahead
- 1938–1939 Petronella ahead
- 1940–2011 Petrina ahead
Side by side
| Petrina | Petronella | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,107 | 335 |
| Most in one year | 99 | 19 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 1,600 | 30 |
| Median age today | 53 | 82 |
| Peak year | 1971 | 1916 |
| Best rank | 1,164th girls | 1,805th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1900 | 1884 |
| Girls / boys | 2,107 / 0 | 335 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Petronellas alive today are over 82; half the Petrinas are over 53. That is 29 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Petrina and Petronella.